The mission of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies is to offer studesnts a liberal arts perspective on the study of media and journalistic storytelling by exploring the convergence of print and broadcast journalism, film, video, radio, television, and online media.

Majors
Journalism Major
The journalism major consists of a minimum of 30 hours, including JMS 150, JMS 260, JMS 375, JMS 400, and JMS 401. In addition, two courses must be selected from JMS 210, JMS 324, JMS 340 or JMS 350, JMS 360, JMS 362, and JMS 430. An additional three courses must be selected from JMS 240, JMS 301, JMS 330, JMS 370, MJS 381, and JMS 490.

Media Studies Major
The Media Studies major consists of a minimum of 30 hours, including as core courses JMS 200, JMS 210 or JMS 220 or JMS 225, JMS 301, JMS 400, and JMS 401. An additional 15 hours must be taken in JMS courses numbered 200 through 495 to meet the minimum requirement for hours. At least 12 of those additional hours must be at the 300 level or above. JMS 290 and JMS 498 do not count towards the major.

Minors

Journalism Minor
The minor in Journalism consists of a minimum of 15 credit hours, including JMS 150, JMS 260 and nine hours selected from JMS 324, JMS 330, JMS 381, JMS 400, JMS 401, and JMS 430.

Media Studies Minor
A minor in Media Studies consists of a minimum of 15 hours, including JMS 101 or JMS 200 and 12 hours of JMS courses numbered 201 through 495. At least nine hours of courses must be at the 300 level or above. JMS 290 and JMS 498 do not count towards the minor.

In order to earn departmental honors in Journalism, a Media Studies major must meet the following requirements: (1) a minimum overall grade point average of 3.5, and (2) achieve a grade point average of 3.5 in the Media Studies major.

In order to earn departmental honors in Journalism, a Jounalism major must meet the following requirements: (1) a minimum overall grade point average of 3.5, and (2) achieve a grade point average of 3.5 in the Journalism major.

Courses
JMS 101. Media in Society (3 hours)
A survey of contemporary media with a focus on developing media literacy, and understanding media industries and the consequences of media messages on individuals, society, and culture. (Every semester)

JMS 150. News Writing for Converged Media (3 hours)
An introduction to writing news in a professional environment and to the forms journalism takes in a converged, digital age. Special emphasis is given to introduce the student to what is news and how it is found, fact gathering, story structure, and collecting information from primary and secondary sources. Lab Required. (Every semester)

JMS 200. Digital Media Scripting and Production (3 hours)
A workshop approach to developing a basic understanding of the hardware and software tools used in creating and producing digital audio, video, and interactive media messages. Lab Required. (Every year)

JMS 210. Narrative Techniques in Digital Media (3 hours)
An introduction to writing for the screen, this course focuses on the conventions and craft of narrative storytelling. Students work individually and as part of a creative team to tell stories for the screen in terms of action and characters. Short individual writing exercises receive peer analysis and review in a workshop setting. Students will analyze produced films and their scripts, and will provide a final screenplay of their own which adheres to the conventions of narrative storytelling and dramatic structure. Lab Required. (Every other year)

JMS 220. Introduction to Narrative Film (3 hours)
This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of film language and provide conceptual tools needed to create and/or critically analyze narrative films. Topics will include: the examination of narrative film form; exploration of how films are classified by genre; the examination of how film techniques such as mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, narrative, performance, and sound contribute to film form. The course will explore how these structural elements function to express complex meanings. (Every year)

JMS 225. Introduction to Nonfiction Film (3 hours)
This course offers a conceptual overview of the forms, strategies, structures and conventions of nonfiction film and video. The course focuses on social and political documentaries, personal essay films, digital stories, news documentaries, and narrative nonfiction techniques. (Every year)

JMS 240. Contemporary Issues and Media (3 hours)
This course examines the way that contemporary issues are shaped and manipulated by the media through framing and agenda setting. The course uses basic theoretical principles from both mass media and journalism studies to provide students with the ability to think critically and speak persuasively about the issues currently in the news. (Every other year)

JMS 260. Civic and Community Journalism (3 hours)
This course will emphasize news gathering techniques used in print, broadcast, and online journalism. The course will require students to apply their understanding of the key elements of civic journalism including: public listening techniques, advocacy vs. objectivity, framing, citizen involvement, problem solving, and coordination of media efforts. Lab activities complement classroom activities. (Every semester)

JMS 290. Journalism/Media Practicum (1 hour)
Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Practical experience in working in student radio or video or journalism. May be repeated for up to 3 credit hours. Graded on S/U basis. Does not count towards major or minor in Journalism or Media Studies. (Every semester)

JMS 301. Media Criticism (3 hours)
This course examines media texts as cultural artifacts from a variety of critical and theoretical perspectives. We will focus on film, television, and New Media in our examination of the meanings, pleasures, and practices of one of the most widespread sign systems of our time. The approaches/methods will include: semiotics, auteur theory, genre theory, feminist theories, cultural studies, postmodernism, and cybercriticism. (Every year)

JMS 310. Race, Gender and Media (3 hours)
(Same as AFR 310 and WGS 310)
This course will critically examine the role of the media in enabling, facilitating, or challenging the social constructions of race and gender in our society. We will consider the mass media to be one among many other social institutions such as religion, education, and family, which strongly influence our everyday notions of race and gender. The course will address a variety of entertainment and news content in print and electronic media. (Every other year)

JMS 324. Investigative Reporting (3 hours)
Prerequisite: JMS 260.
This course focuses on investigative reporting with an emphasis on in-depth newsgathering techniques to prepare students for reporting public affairs in print, broadcast, and online media. Depth reporting encompasses coverage of local, state, national government, courts and criminal justice, campaigns and elections, business and economics, education, science and health, religion, and sports. Lab Required. (Every year)

JMS 330. Editing/Design (3 hours)
This course will teach students to prepare copy and related material for publication, with emphasis on professional writing, editing accuracy, clarity and presentation using desktop publishing techniques. Lab activities complement classroom instruction. Lab Required. (Every other year)

JMS 340. Digital Audio (3 hours)
Prerequisite: JMS 200.
This course covers the fundamentals of audio recording and mixing, and post-poduction COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS / 187 sound. Topics include physical & perceptual acoustics, basic electricity, analog & digital recording principles, console operation, microphone selection & placement, and sound engineering in live and studio situations. No previous musical background or recording experience required. Lab Required. (Every year)

JMS 350. Digital Filmmaking (3 hours)
Prerequisite JMS 200.
This course introduces students to the creative and technical aspects of small format video production as well as the basic principles and language of film/video. Production projects will be oriented toward developing the student’s creative vision and students will learn to express their ideas and understanding through video. By producing short video projects, students will use film techniques to tell their stories, as they learn the art of moviemaking and gain technical proficiency. Lab Required. (Every year)

JMS 360. Digital Storytelling (3 hours)
Prerequisite: JMS 200
This course will explore digital storytelling as a form of narrative nonfiction film. Students will learn how to craft engaging digital stories, analyze and critique digital stories, and work with the New Media tools necessary to create and present stories in digital form. Lab Required. (Every year)

JMS 362. Documentary Storytelling (3 hours)
Prerequisite: JMS 200
An advanced production course covering nonfiction formats. The course explores directing the documentary video with an emphasis on the analysis of nonfiction films; and writing, planning, directing, and editing class projects. The class will examine the documentary filmmaker’s role, responsibilities, and methods of working in all phases of pre-production, production, and post-production. Lab Required. (Every other year)

JMS 365. Storytelling and Social Change (3 hours)
Prerequisite: JMS 360 or 362
This is an intensive, hands-on editorial and production course in which students pitch their ideas and then research, report, produce, shoot, write, and edit their own short documentary films on social issues affecting the local community, the U.S., or the world. Readings and discussions focus on current news, media ethics, media literacy, the declining credibility of the press, journalists’ responsibilities to the public, social justice issues, First Amendment principles, corporate media ownership, media images of women and people of color, and the powerful role of media (TV news, documentaries, New Media, digital storytelling) as tools for civic engagement and positive social change. Lab Required. (Every other year)

JMS 370. Public Relations (3 Hours)
This course will address the theory and practice of public relations, how public relations operates in organizations, its impact on publics and its functions in society. Students will study the professional development of the field; concepts, issues, and principles in the practice; and models and theories guiding the practice. There will be an emphasis on case studies, lectures, and experimentation with major public relations tools and practices. (Occasional)

JMS 375. Journalism and Media History (3 hours)
This course is designed to examine journalism from the first crude hand presses and wooden types, through the Colonial and Revolutionary eras in America, the pioneer and western settlement eras, the Civil War, the expansion West, the time of Yellow journalism, the rise of the magazine, the rise of the radio, the rise of television, the coming of computer technology, corporate ownership, the vast media conglomerates that have emerged in the last decades, and other areas that define journalism today. (Every other year)

JMS 381. Online Journalism (3 hours)
Online Journalism uses computers, readings, and discussions to learn about online news publishing. The class will include lectures and discussion on New-Media themes; the business, ethical, and legal implications of publishing online; the characteristics that distinguish news Web sites from print and broadcast operations; the advent of the 24-hour news cycle; and guidelines for doing research on the Internet. This course will cover a wide range of cutting- edge topics, including online social, cultural, political, legal and economic issues. Lab Required. (Every other year)

JMS 400. Media Ethics (3 hours)
This course examines the process of ethical decision making in professional media communication and the principles on which ethical decisions are based. Through readings, case studies, class discussions and presentations, students will examine the role of ethics in different journalism and mass communication contexts, including reporting, digital storytelling, blogging, advertising, and public relations. (Every year)

JMS 401. Media Law (3 hours)
This course is designed to give students an understanding of the legal environment that affects mass communication professionals, including journalists, public relations practitioners and advertising professionals. The course examines the historical development of the notion of free expression, explores the legal limitations on expression, and seeks to develop a framework for evaluating the fluid legal landscape that communicators face. (Every other year)

JMS 430. Advocacy Journalism (3 hours)
Prerequisite JMS 150 and JMS 260.
This course is an advanced news reporting and writing course exploring the important connection between communities and their print and broadcast media. Students will better understand the media’s role in a democracy empowering people to engage in public life. Special emphasis is placed on news judgment, responsibility to the community and covering the community through creative partnerships. Through cooperative learning projects and research, students will use a model of civic journalism to develop a project for the community. (Every other year)

JMS 490. Special Topics in Journalism and Media (3 hours)
A study of some significant topic in journalism or mass communication, which is not available through regular course offerings. May be taken twice, with different topics, for a maximum of six hours credit. (Occasional)

JMS 495. Directed Independent Study in Journalism and Media (3 hours)
Prerequisite: junior or senior status and consent of the instructor.
Intensive reading on a selected topic in an area of special interest to the student. The program of study must be agreed upon with the instructor and cleared with the chair of the department in advance of registration. May be repeated with different projects/topics, but total credit may not exceed 6 hours. (Occasional)

JMS 498. Internship in Journalism and Media (1-9 hours)
Prerequisite: junior or senior status and consent of instructor
An internship of at least 15 weeks with an approved news medium, public relations or publicity agency, or other suitable publication or agency. The student will serve as an apprentice under professional supervision with regular consultation with his/her journalism/media studies professor at Mercer. May be repeated for a total maximum of 9 hours. Does not count towards major or minor in Journalism or Media Studies. (Every semester)